The tambourine is an ancient instrument that possesses a bent frame with multiple openings that contain small pieces of metal called jingles that clash together and sound when the frame is struck or shaken. The frame can include a stretched drumhead that combines the low sound of a drum with the high sound of the jingles. Commonly, each jingle is disc shaped, has a central aperture and is stacked atop a second jingle, forming a jingle pair. Each jingle pair is retained in the frame by a pin secured at each end to the frame and running co-axially through the jingle apertures. The apertures are sized so that the jingle pairs can freely spin, ride up and down and move slightly angularly relative to the pin. Tambourines are used frequently as a sound enriching accompaniment to other instrumentation that can include among others, fiddles, guitars and drums. Tambourines are especially useful in enriching the sound of minimally instrumented performances.
Various foot operated percussion instruments possessing tambourine-like elements have been described in the past for purposes of allowing soloists to enrich their sound, including a stand-alone tambourine which is connectable by its frame to a hinged element that when struck by a foot, shakes the tambourine. Other known instruments possess jingles which are mounted within structures affixible to a body part such as a knee, or a foot. While the forgoing types of instruments work well for their intended use, (1) many are relatively large complicated mechanisms that are difficult to pack for performances, (2) others, being attached to a body part, are difficult to control and are too easily sounded by inadvertent body movement, and (3) still others produce a vibratory sustain that is undesirable and not easily attenuated.
Accordingly, it would be desirable for a foot operable percussion instrument producing a jingling sound to be among other things, (1) compact enough to fit inside an instrument case, (2) of simple and durable construction, (3) unattached to any body part, (4) sensitive enough to sound at the slightest tap of a foot, and (5) capable of producing a sound of short duration for each tap of the foot.